More name changes for South Africa
The Department of Sports, Arts and Culture has gazetted further name changes for South Africa, focused on small villages and various natural features in Limpopo and KwaZulu-Natal.
The latest change will see the village of Nebo in the Sekhukhune district municipality of Limpopo renamed to Lefakong.
Two other villages have been registered in the UGu district municipality in KZN under new names, including eNgcawusheni and eMbeni.
Aside from the new names for villages, the department has noted 13 other new registrations of names for various rivers, hills and mountains in the same UGu district.
The full list of changes can be seen below:
| New name | Old Name | Province | Feature |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lefakong | Nebo | Limpopo | Village |
| eNgcawusheni | – | KwaZulu-Natal | Village |
| eMbeni | – | KwaZulu-Natal | Village |
| uThuli | – | KwaZulu-Natal | Mountain |
| uMgciba | – | KwaZulu-Natal | Mountain |
| uSimakade | – | KwaZulu-Natal | Mountain |
| eThafeni | – | KwaZulu-Natal | Mountain |
| uMagantshu | – | KwaZulu-Natal | Mountain |
| uMbeni | – | KwaZulu-Natal | Mountain |
| iMpongwana | – | KwaZulu-Natal | Hill |
| eStinini | – | KwaZulu-Natal | River |
| iSijoti | – | KwaZulu-Natal | River |
| iDakane | – | KwaZulu-Natal | River |
| uMkhukhuse | – | KwaZulu-Natal | River |
| iChichichi | – | KwaZulu-Natal | River |
| iNhlambamasoka | – | KwaZulu-Natal | River |
The changes were approved by DSAC minister Gayton McKenzie after being processed by the South African Geographical Names Council (SAGNC).
In line with the South African Geographical Names Act, anyone dissatisfied with any changes or new names may object.
Objections should be lodged with the minister within 30 days of the gazette.
Notably, the objection process is one of many processes involved with name changes that could be changed soon.
This will be done through the Draft South African Geographical Names Council Amendment Bill, which is currently being processed.
The Draft Bill seeks to amend the South African Geographical Names Council Act by more clearly defining consultation processes involved with name changes and creating an appeal process, among other changes.
The country has seen over 1,500 name changes processed since the council was established.
This includes major towns and cities, such as the renaming of Port Elizabeth to Gqeberha in 2021, and more recently, the renaming of East London to KuGompo City.
However, whenever these name changes occur, there is often a huge public outcry, allegations of a lack of consultation, and thousands of objections afterwards.
With the proposed changes to the laws, an Appeals Tribunal for name changes will be established, with specific timelines to follow.
The Tribunal will have 90 days to decide an appeal—though the bill makes it clear that the Tribunal’s decisions are explicitly final and binding, subject only to court review.
One of the core shifts with the Tribunal, however, is that objections won’t be thrown at the minister’s feet.
The minister’s role is to gazette the change at the end of a much longer process. However, objections are currently lodged directly with them.
Under the new proposed system, the Minister must consider council recommendations within 90 days of receipt and publish the decision within 30 days.
Objections and appeals are then handled by the Appeals Tribunal, which makes a binding decision. Following that process, the matter would have to be escalated to the courts for relief.
Proposed name change process
| 1 | Filling out an application form, which is then submitted to the SAGNC after being reviewed by the Provincial Geographical Names Committee |
| 2 | The SAGNC will then assess the application to determine whether it meets the requirements set out in the standard operating procedure. |
| 3 | Once the SAGNC has satisfied itself that the application meets all the requirements, it recommends the name change and sends the recommendation to the Minister |
| 4 | The Minister must consider the proposal within 90 days of receipt and, if approved, must gazette the changes within 30 days of making a decision. |
| 5 | After gazetting, anyone who is not satisfied with the decision still has about 30 days to object to the name change. |
| 6 | The Appeals Tribunal will have 90 days to decide an appeal and issue a binding ruling. |
| 7 | After the objection process has been finalised, the matter can be taken to court if still not satisfied. |
The full gazette is below:
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